Ecovillage at Ithaca: Pioneering a Sustainable Culture

by Liz Walker

Book Overview

The compelling story of an internationally recognized example of sustainable development.

In a world filled with stories of environmental devastation and social dysfunction, EcoVillage at Ithaca is a refreshing and hopeful look at a modern-day village that is taking an integrated approach to addressing these problems.

This book tells the story of life at EcoVillage at Ithaca, an internationally recognized example...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0865715246
• ISBN13: 9780865715240
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: New Society Publishers
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

excellent 1st hand personal account of an ecovillage

This is an excellent first-hand personal account of the forming, and subsequent trials, tribulations and accomplishments of one of the most famous ecovillages in the US. Liz Walker does a good job describing how the ecovillage at Ithaca began as more of a movement than just a simple community. She details some of the initial aspects of getting the community going, and offers up some vignettes on life in the community as it formed and once it was formed and stable. The reason I give this 4 stars instead of 5 is that while it's chocked full of anecdotes, it's short on actual advice for those wishing to form duplicate communities elsewhere. The group at Ithaca had some tremendous advantages early on, (such as being offered free land, and enjoying overwhelming support from the local community). Still, it's a good read for anybody interested in intentional communities or ecovillages. One thing I took to heart from this is that the CSA farmer couple at Ithaca felt like they were getting something of a raw deal, and not enough support from the community. This is a recurring theme in other ICs that have a single person, couple or small group responsible for growing food for the community, with a community that's free to shop elsewhere if they desire. It's a valuable lesson.

Honest and Inspiring

This is a very truthful and inspiring story of the development of Ecovillage at Ithaca, with all its successes but also with the challenges and problems faced by the community. If you are thinking about joining or starting your own community I would highly recommend you this book and a visit to the Ecovillage which I did in May 2007. It really helped me to confirm my dream of building an ecovillage myself.